Go karts?

[zedevan]

i'm concidering wasting my money, on either a go kart or the zed, and though this is probably the most zed biased place to bring it up and hear some opinions from people wiser than myself. i'm not saying that this is going to happen straight away, the thoughts are just lurking there at the back of my mind...and using my bro's go kart every now and again isn't helping!

 

i'd b buying a 100s arrow kart most likely, around 3g with all the stuff i need to race it to start off with, which i guess would b the aim to do everynow and again as i assume after ages of going around the same track it would get boring. The main advantage i can see is its competitive so its not just about who has wasted more money on the kart..well to a degree, however i wouldn't be able to use it all that often, like once every couple of weeks for a couple of hours maximum.

 

one problem being the engines need rebuilding every 10hours or so, which means the running cost of that, plus new tyres, means it ends up being around 4g a year to race competitively. An advantage is that when i stack, the body panels are cheap to replace and less chance of dying from hitting a tree etc

 

the other option would b to waste money on my car, most likely a 1jzgte conversion (prob twin turbo version out of a soarer with some manual gear box), fuel cell, atleast a half cage, lsd and some decent brakes, then use it in motokhana's and hill climbs when i can b bothered, plus the joys of driving such a beast every time i take it for a spin and mayb eventually racing it in some class, but i dont really see this happening as there isn't a class? and i dont know would i want to drive my car at the same sort of limit i'm happy driving a go kart at, and have the risk of having what happened to ash's car happen to it

 

from a money point of view i am guessing they will cost about the same over a couple of years, hopefully by which time the on going costs of either doesn't matter, although at which stage i could possibly be sick of the go kart and not have time for it, but still love the zed ofcourse! at the same time however no matter how stupidly i drive my car it doesn't come close to the fun, safety and legalness of my bro's kart, and after just like half an hour in it i'm more than sore enough to last me a bit lol

 

any thoughts?

[George]

either would kick ass i reckon.

 

i used to own a silver arrow clubman. i'm very light so during practise sessions i'd be showing up the competitive boys. never did end up racing but was always encouraged to do so. i was a perfect weight for my class coming in over the minimum by about a kilo.

 

karting is so much fun it's not funny! the reason i stopped is because i had no close friends that wanted to invest in them so it got a bit tiresome asking strangers to push start me and help me lift/drop the kart.

 

it is the cheapest way to get in to racing and you truly do feel like a one man racing team. working on them is enjoyable and trying out settings is so much fun. make sure you get a decent computer if you decide to get in the sport. helps so much.

 

man i've owned some fast cars and let me tell you there is nothing like the feeling of taking a sweeper one inch off the ground doing 100 clicks and 15k rpm. so sexy.

 

go the arrows!

[Toecutter]

Yer I used to own a kart with an Aprila motor in it. Great fun, especially under lights at night after a couple of those funny cigarettes! :wink:

 

Chew through tyres though and it does add up a bit. Why don't you just get your Z to a decent level in terms of body work seeing you've got the new wheels coming this week and then hook all your money into the kart! then?

[zedevan]

thanks for the reply's, i'll b fixing up the body of my zed a bit closer to spring, however "the need for speed" is on my mind more, and i'd prefer to cheap out on the body for now and get some other fun bits!

 

i've had a couple of mates telling me that i'll never have time to use it etc, where the car i can enjoy more often, and i'd eventually want to do it to the car anyway, just thinking even now i'm thinking i'm possibly a bit old to get into karts, for the next little bit i'll try to take out my bros kart more often and hope i dont brake it

 

george, dont they make you put weights on ur karts so they all weigh the same? although it'd b best to b in the lightest class possible so its great you were just under the weight. your car looks very sexy by the way, more info on it is needed

 

i've got the money there for either a kart or an lsd, although not sure what ratio to try to find. after having my diff mounts replaced for a road worthy nearly a year ago they are now clunking again when i lift off the power :S time to do the thing craig did i guess?

[Toecutter]

just put a chain over it like many others have...I put my new diff mount on years ago and then the chain which goes through a rubber hose never had to think about it since.

 

Did you pick your wheels up mate?

[George]

 

george' date=' dont they make you put weights on ur karts so they all weigh the same? although it'd b best to b in the lightest class possible so its great you were just under the weight.

 

[/quote']

 

yes they do but it's up to you. they run brackets so 111kg to 120kg then 121kg to 131kg etc etc. not sure of the exact weights but it works like that. if you fall in at 108kg you can push yourself up a class to be in the minimum weight and some like to do that cause they can use the lead weights as a balancing advantage.

[zedevan]

picking up wheels tomoz or next day apparently...prob tues as havn't told work i need an afternoon off lol

[sco_aus]

I reckon karts are a good way to get inot racing as you see a lot of the top drivers started here. But zeds are way cool, what were you thinking of doing to her?

 

A friend and i just happened across a ex race kart frame for free which we are planning to put a friends CBR600 (written off) engine into for a bit of fun, wait, no, a lot of fun . But its not going to cost much so its easy.

[Scando]

Karting can be cheap and a lot of fun. It can also be very expensive if you want to do it at the top level. My budget to run my Z in our state series for the year is less than what my karting budget for a year used to be. Only difference is that in the karts other people were paying for everything so this made it a lot cheaper I know of some karters spending over $100K in a year!

 

So what I'm trying to say is $3K will get you a good package to have a bit of fun and be competitve at club days but if you get carried away it can get very expensive very quickly.

[zedevan]

sounds like both of you had/have good arrangements

 

i'm thinking that if i do stuff to my car atleast i'll have something to show for it at the end, where as with karts i'll just have alot of old engines and tyres! but even a kart to just use every now and again would b fun like what my bro is doing, however i can see myself getting carried away...

[Scando]

Don't let me put you off getting into karts. I did it for 16 years and had a lot of fun and made a lot of good friends through it. And if you just want to have a bit of fun it is excellent cheap motorsport. It is very easy to get carried away though.

[zedevan]

yeah i hear ya i need to work out if i want that sort of dedication to a motorsport i guess, it terms of time and money

 

how'd u get others to pay for your karting? sponserships? how much do u budget for ur zed a yr?

[Scando]

My karting sponsorship started out with my dad boss chipping in a bit. Then when I was about 11 an engine builder started doing my rebuilds for free. And then when I was about 15 a guy that owned a kart shop started sponsoring me and supplied me with a new chassis every couple fo years, tyres, parts, fuel, entry fees, pretty much everything. It meant I could afford to do a couple of interstate trips to big meetings each year which was great.

 

I'm budgeting about $5K to race for Z for the year but this will most likely become a lot more if I decide to go ahead with the improvements I have in mind.

[sco_aus]

Sweet as, my olds couldnt afford to get me into that sort of stuff, but im trying to make up for it now

I'm budgeting about $5K to race for Z for the year but this will most likely become a lot more if I decide to go ahead with the improvements I have in mind.

What have you got in mind?

[zedevan]

thats just not fair lol

 

i wish i had a go kart when i was younger...

[nat0_240_chevZ]

i have an R6 yammy motor for a dangerously fast kart!!!!!

 

about 90kw@12,000rpm!!!!

 

 

For Sale!!! make an offer around $1200

 

lol

 

:lol: :lol:

[mayhem]

yer my demon kart with its rather small honda CRF 450 motor is a blast when it doesnt run out of tread that it ...... 15min is my longest run out of a set :cry:

[George]

bump!

 

anyone karting atm? i've been bitten by the bug yet again and wish i hadn't sold out last year. such a stupid move... grrr

[sco_aus]

Nato, you tempt me too much.  But i dont have that sorta money.  Do have a kart available for something.  mmm stupid speeds

[Scando]

Did anybody go to the city of melbourne titles at the Todd Road track on the weekend?  I made the trip over from Tassie to help out a mate that was racing there.